'Look At Me' Trailer: Chris Rock Takes on Javier Bardem in Tense Venice Short

Chris Rock makes a stop at the Venice Film Festival 2022 thanks to Sally Potter's short film, "Look at Me".

The 16-minute film stars Rock as a gala organizer trying to overpower a stubborn drummer (Javier Bardem) before the stage performance. Tap dancer Savion Glover also performs. "Look at Me" premieres out of competition in Venice.

Director Potter originally conceived the concept for the film as a short story to feature in her 2020 film 'The Roads Not Taken,' starring Bardem as a writer in the early stages of dementia. "Look at Me" was filmed in 2019 over five days in London and New York. The short is produced by Christopher Sheppard.

"When I walked into the editing room, I saw how dynamic these titans of the entertainment world are together, their volatile and fiery relationship on screen offset by the rhythms of brilliant tap dancer Savion Glover," Potter told Deadline in a statement accompanying the trailer. “The fate of the story was clear: it had nothing to do with the other project. It had to become a short film, a moving portrait of conflict and love. The result is "Look at me".

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The premiere of 'Look at Me' also marks the 30th anniversary of 'Orlando', Potter's breakthrough Oscar-nominated feature, the gender-specific adaptation of Virginia Woolf starring Tilda Swinton, in competition at the Film Festival of Venice of 1992.

'Look at Me' will be released by Bleecker Street in the US following its premiere in Venice, with screenings at New York's Metrograph alongside Potter's 'Orlando', as well as a qualifying run at Laemmle Theater in Los Angeles. . The film will also be available on the Bleecker Street app in early 2023 as part of a collection of shorts from filmmakers Joe Penna, Riley Stearns, Gavin Hood and Alex Huston-Fischer.

Potter said, "I'm grateful to Bleecker Street for taking the shorts seriously and I'm thrilled they're bringing 'Look at Me' to audiences in theaters and online at a time when its themes seem so urgent."

UK-based Bankside Films will handle international sales of the short film.

Check out the first preview of “Look at Me” below.

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